Amid the eruption of green light, not only was vision obstructed, but even divine sense lock-on was disrupted.
Everyone present lost track of the Profound Heaven Dharma King.
"Sure enough, aside from the Heavenly Venerable, the only ones capable of influencing and manipulating the Heavenly Profound Mirror are the Profound Heaven Sect!"
This thought flashed through the young man's mind.
Scanning the surroundings without finding any trace of his target, the young man's heart sank slightly. Just as he was about to order a pursuit, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
"Hmm?"
"I already laid out the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Array beforehand. Unless the array is broken, there is no way he could have escaped."
"Which means he is still right here?!"
The young man immediately ordered the black-robed cultivators to scan this space once more.
Much to his surprise, they found no trace whatsoever of the vanished Profound Heaven Dharma King!
The young Dharma Transmitter's expression darkened.
"The Profound Heaven Sect..."
"They truly are troublesome to deal with. No wonder they managed to survive in the shadows after the joint campaign of eradication by the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao."
The young man's gaze repeatedly swept across the space.
"Just where are you hiding?"
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
His gaze fell upon the squad of black-robed cultivators under his command.
A faint sense of unease crept into his mind.
'Just how many people did I bring with me on this outing?'
The question surfaced unbidden.
Yet to his horror, for such an exceedingly simple question...
He could not remember at all!
He had attained Dao Integration countless years ago; for something like this to happen to him was utterly inconceivable!
"Is this the bizarre, uncanny nature of the Profound Heaven Sect's techniques...?"
The young man narrowed his eyes as rumors regarding the ancient Profound Heaven Sect surged into his mind.
Realizing that his quarry had hidden among the black-robed cultivators, the young man ordered them to cross-check one another's identities.
Although the young man was unfamiliar with most of the black-robed cultivators, they unquestionably knew one another well.
Yet to his utter astonishment, after thoroughly verifying each other's identities, they failed to find a single person out of place.
Every individual's profile was flawless.
They even shared vivid memories of their past interactions.
...
At this point, the young man's face turned thoroughly unsightly.
By now, no matter how reluctant he was, he had to admit that he had been overconfident.
As one of the earliest Dharma Transmitters to follow the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable and overthrow the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, the young man had never truly taken this so-called Profound Heaven Dharma King seriously.
After all, the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao—who had originally overthrown the Profound Heaven Sect—were all defeated by his side. What did it matter how strong the Profound Heaven Sect had once been?
Thus, wanting to claim the monumental achievement all for himself, he had not notified any other Dharma Transmitters before coming here.
He never expected to fall into such an awkward predicament.
Emotions flickered across the young man's face.
He currently had two choices. One was to contact the Alliance headquarters and request the roster of black-robed cultivators assigned to this mission. A simple comparison would expose the hidden Profound Heaven Dharma King.
However, doing so would inevitably alert the other Dharma Transmitters and likely invite their ridicule.
After weighing his options, the young man made a different choice.
He casually pointed at one of the black-robed cultivators and said coldly, "You. Kill yourself."
Hearing this ruthlessly cruel command, the indicated black-robed cultivator did not hesitate in the slightest.
He slammed both hands forcefully against his forehead. In an instant, his life aura vanished.
His body crumbled into specks of dust, dissolving into the air.
Only a streak of green light, carrying something within, broke through the void and flew away.
Without a ripple of emotion on his face, the young man looked at the next black-robed cultivator.
Under the young man's lethal stare, one black-robed cultivator after another took their own lives.
Strangely, the anomalous phenomena that normally accompanied the death of a cultivator never appeared in the sky from start to finish.
A total of thirty-five black-robed cultivators had accompanied him.
Now, twenty-six had already taken their own lives, yet the hidden Profound Heaven Dharma King remained undiscovered.
"Could my luck really be this bad?"
"Or was my judgment mistaken?"
The young man's expression was grim to the extreme.
Yet having come this far, there was no turning back.
With a ruthless resolve, like a gambler whose eyes were bloodshot from losing, he issued the suicidal orders without pause.
Until...
Only the final black-robed cultivator remained.
Just like the others before him, he raised his hands and struck violently toward his own head.
Yet right before crushing his own skull, he stopped.
Slowly lowering his hands, he looked at the young Dharma Transmitter with a mocking sneer. "Is this the immortal cultivation organization currently in power?"
"Treating subordinates like blades of grass..."
"They say our Profound Heaven Sect was tyrannical and devoid of morals, but in my view, we were far outdone by you."
The young man was not provoked by Li Chen's words.
In his eyes, those black-robed cultivators were merely replenishable resources.
Let alone a few dozen—even if hundreds or thousands perished, he would not feel the slightest twinge of heartache.
"What kind of sinister art is this?"
The young man refused to believe that mere luck had led to the Profound Heaven Dharma King being the very last person chosen at random.
It had to be an inducement caused by the opponent's bizarre technique.
Sure enough, Li Chen did not deny it.
"Sinister art?"
Li Chen gave a cold snort. "This is supreme orthodox heritage, the true essence of an immortal sect! How could someone like you hope to see through it!"
The young man possessed an extraordinarily exalted status.
For thousands of years, no one had dared to speak so insolently before him!
In particular, the deep, heartfelt disdain in the other party's eyes ignited an uncontrollable fury within him.
"Now, only the two of us remain here. Let us see what other tricks you can play!"
The young man's voice was laden with killing intent, his robes billowing without any wind.
Within the space sealed by the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Array, specks of starlight suddenly emerged.
Then, like night falling, a myriad of stars filled the sky.
Countless beams of starlight shone down, transforming into sharp arrows ready to impale the Profound Heaven Dharma King!
Faced with the young man's sudden onslaught, Li Chen seemed stunned into stupidity, remaining rooted to the spot without moving.
Just as the countless beams of starlight were about to pierce through him like ten thousand arrows through the heart...
The young man faintly sensed something wrong.
Yet it was already too late.
In the next instant, countless tiny holes appeared across the young man's body.
Blood erupted in torrents. The young man was pierced clean through by his own starlight!
Beneath the thousands of stellar rays, his body disintegrated into a puddle of sludge.
A moment later, amid a squirming motion, an intact body emerged once more from the void.
"You..."
Looking at the black-robed cultivator before him, a surge of fear finally welled up in the young man's heart.
It was an emotion he had not tasted in a very long time.
"Me?"
"Am I not you?"
The black-robed cultivator looked at him, a bizarre smile tugging at his lips.
The young man's vision blurred in a daze.
The other party's features had become completely identical to his own!
Chapter 893